i had a talisman (and a potion) in play, but didn't get a copy of a golem when one was purchased
This is not a bug:
http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Talisman
"Talisman, like most other gainers, cannot be used to gain cards with Potion.png or Debt.png in their cost."
ah. tks!
Mad,
The "exception" to this is when using Stonemason. That is, if you played one potion and 6 coins, you could get 2 Golem using the Stonemason ability. (Or do the same with any other potion card, if you had the 2 extra coins for that particular card's potion + coins cost.)
(I know; it's not actually an exception) :-)
See also: http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Stonemason
The reason is that "4 coins" means "4 coins and 0 potions".
"4 coins and 1 potion" is not "up to 4 coins and 0 potions".